Thank you, my friend.
I'm actually thinking about kicking Dusty to the curb, as I've gotten some strong feedback indicating a preference for PI.
It looks like Dusty will be a one-hit-wonder.
So, I'm glad he's building something as cool as Curt Campbell's Stentorians.

All the famous cool people do it...Prince was just Prince, then he was a smybol. Garth Brooks turned into Chris Gaines. Fact is PI, while you were having fun trying the waters as "Dusty", PI is good with us all I think. To think there are actually 2 people in that shop would really defeat me. I choose to think it is just one guy, some NICE tools and lots of thought and elbow grease going into your work!

lacrojx--Thanks for being supportive during the name-change experiment.

I meant to get a shot of this earlier, but I forgot until just now.
After I bored holes in the face-frame for the grill-guides, I inserted the Dowel Centers in those holes. A little masking tape made them fit more snugly, so they wouldn't drop out when I flipped it over. I then positioned the face-frame on the Howitzer and pressed down firmly, to mark the matching hole locations.

I'm embarrassed to say that just before assembly in mid December, I discovered some veneer bubbles in the top of the second Howitzer.

I set it aside for a while.

Then I stripped the veneer off the top and beefed up my clamping cauls and got perfect, bubble-free veneering results. The second Howitzer cabinet was finished yesterday. I expect to get some REW graphs soon. Even with the subs not equalized, we watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes last night on blu-ray and the bass was...an experience.

I'd be tempted to put the Howitzers in the corners where the L and R are, and move the L and R to where the Howitzers are...? Measurements will likely help you decide what's best, if you're open to moving things around.

I probably do have problems with the wood floor. I'll know more after I run REW. I do have a large rug farther back, but I'm not sure if that helps much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuxedocivic

Superb! Very high end looking.

I'd be tempted to put the Howitzers in the corners where the L and R are, and move the L and R to where the Howitzers are...? Measurements will likely help you decide what's best, if you're open to moving things around.

Congratulations on completing such a fantastic build.

I actually tried it once, without equalizing, and the sound stage collapsed.
The problem I have is the distance to the Listening Position, which is 19 feet.
As they sit in the photos, the subs have 8 feet between them, so swapping them with the mains means I end up with a small sound stage.
Otherwise, it would be a great idea to do the swap, as you suggested.

Needless to say, I am a great fan of your work, and eagerly await your REW results.

I do have a suggestion....

SEOS or any other waveguide speaker will suffer just as much as those mains with a floor bounce on that floor.

Use the floor to your advantage. Ground-Plane CBT.

BTW, do you have a center channel in there somewhere?

1st set of CBTs of my own design should be done in the Spring. Ebony stain and maybe the Target Coatings lacquer polished well. I'll need your advice when I shoot that stuff. All I know is Nitro Lacquer, but I feel that once I use the supply I have left, I am done with that explosive stuff...

Thanks guys. Chris, you're a funny guy!
Max, I could not bring myself to place the center channel speaker on the hearth, even on a stand, so I'm running without the center channel for now. I might change my mind later on it. We don't use the fireplace at all. So, you think CBT would be the better way to go for this room?

I do think that Groundplane CBT is a good solution for you, and you would be the right person to make them really beautiful.

Although waveguide designs will have pattern control down to around 800-1200Hz depending on the size of the waveguide and woofer combo, lower frequencies are still subject to wall, ground and ceiling bounce and the regular freq response notches that result.

The main ways people have corrected for this are carpeting with generous padding, drop ceilings and other absorption techniques.

The Groundplane CBT takes the 'disadvantage' of a reflective floor and turns it into acoustic gold. It nearly halves the control frequency of a freestanding CBT by using the floor itself. A 1 meter array can control vertical pattern down to 250Hz, below that, ceiling and wall treatments must be used.

But all of this is a thought experiment (and not a cheap one; CBTs are expensive in driver cost and shading scheme). If your mains make you happy, there is no need at all to replace them.

Those dips from 100-200Hz are due to 1/4 wavelength cancellations, likely from front wall reflections. If your speakers are between 15-30 inches from the front wall, you will get dips in the 100-200Hz region, unless you use absorption. All freestanding speakers suffer from this. Also the back wall matters, if your head is between 15-30 inches from the back wall, same thing.

This room is not bad at all. You can make it better, though. If you get crafty, you can camouflage some absorptive panels as 'art' if you have access to a large printer/plotter and some fabric, or you can use burlap and spray it yourself with something...

That's if you are not happy. Looks like you get pretty good extension, better than we had originally thought.....If you are gonna make a few more of these beauties, you will have enough, IMO. Any chance you can do some distortion tests?

I have suckouts areound the same freq range, due to my screen being 1/2" MDF. Mistake. I will rebuild it (if I ever get time) with blackout cloth and put fiberglass behind it to treat those midbass suckouts.....

Max--I wouldn't mind trying some distortion tests. Today, I have spent some time with the FBQ to better familiarize myself with it. I wouldn't mind improving the sound in this room, but there are WAF limitations involved, since this is our living room. It would be interesting to experiment sometime with room treatments, but it will have to wait for the time being.

Totally understand. Everyone puts up with 1/4 wave suckouts unless they really do some treatment. One day I'll know what sound is like without those suckouts, I bet music and movies will have lots more midbass 'kick and punch'...just like my outdoor party speaker has....

You know what's odd about the graphs is that REW calculated a cut at 39.9 but left the peak at about 27hz.

I re-ran everything today and I got very different results. Sorry, but I didn't save any graphs. I'll get some tomorrow. I think I had the level set either a little too high or too low and REW got confused.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjaudio

Are you adding any boost down low Dan?

Surprisingly, no. I reset the AV receiver's built-in PEQ to flat for the sub, then ran REW and sent the one single filter it calculated to the FBQ. I later reset the FBQ to flat (no filters) and ran the receiver's equalization routine.
I wouldn't have thought I would get much room gain either, since neither sub is in a corner and it is a large, open room.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjaudio

If not then that's pretty decent response down to 23hz just raw. I would have guessed in the mid 30's in that size room without boost or corner placement.